Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1887-04-13
THE BASILISK.
A STORY OF d
CHAPTER XXXII.

"A " III IL
CHAPTER xxXII.
SAVED. 3a
Some little way T walked with no fixed
plan. The sudden hope inspired by the
prospect of action soon waned and expired.
Was the form I had seen at the window
indeed Mary Fortescuea If I encountered
the Basilisk at her ten O'Clock rendezvous,
should I be any nearer the realization Of
my hopesa At least I could trace her move
ments, and SO possibly get a clue to the
place where she had taken Mary, if it should
prove not to be the house where she had
made the appointment with the hideous old
woman. Taking a turn to the right I found
myself upon a small bridge, which SPAWNED
a dark narrow canal bordered with high
houses, sparsely lit here and there by fan
tastical]y disposed patches Of dim lamp
lights; here prol onged in irregular lines on
the dark water, where q window in the
lowest story almost met the surface of the
canal; there set like a bleared eye in the
middle of a towering gable; zigzagging
along.on the levels of the various storys,
with frequent gaps of utter darkness. AS
the still freshening wind came sweeping
along in strong gusts, I could hear the
water tapping at the Shiny walls, clammily
panderlng to secret crime, and solicitous
for the custody of corpses. There was in
the middle Of the parapet of the bridge a
lamp, which fickered and f1ared in the
gusts of wind. By its light Icould see that
the dark mysterious object by the narrow
wharf, close to the bridge, was q long mar
row barge: At the foot of the slippery
looking steps, which went down from
t %ss a 0rla SEsad.bu sG d tss %Raq
wherry. The clouds, which were fast piling
up before the wind, had now hidden the
moon,b but the still varying denseness Of
their folds caused a constant heaving Of
the darkness, like the struggling respira-
scene was weird and oppressive. It might
be that these tall, silent houses were the
homes of simple honest folk; that in those
dimly-lighted rooms the children of toll
were c~ontentedly. enjoying their humble
evening meal, that the wicked looking
industry. But 1 looked up the long rows
of darkling houses, and knew that in one
of them the wiles of Basilisk were at work;
that there, in all likelihood Mary was inn
INJURED; and the remembrance of the tall
dark figure of her worst foe, and the cring-
ing crone who was evidently entirely at
that foes disposal, banished any cheerful
ideas, and touched the scene with the pen
Gil of a Dore, as it drew the weird fantasies
which illustrate the Contes Drolatiques of
Balzac.
The aspect of the watery way from the
bridge became so sinister that I returned
to reconnoitre the house ono moro from
the street. To this impulse l owe, in all
probability. the rescue of Mary, the preser-
walton of what was dearer to me than life
itself.
The street was very silent and deserted,
though it was yet quite early. A few peo-
pie passed me, their sabots making an in
ordinate clatter on the rough stones; but
when I paused close to the house there was
no one in sight. Hooked up. The light was
was again open. I determined to make
an attempt at least to settle my doubts
as to the identity of the occupant of that
room.
Hooked up to the window, and. called
softly and clearly:
:'MaryGn
There was no response.
Again Icalled, with a little more empha.
MS:
"Maryw
twas not fancy. No. At my second
call q figure came rapidly to the window,
but ere / could either hear or utter any
thing a sharp whisper from the adjacent
doorway broke the stiffness.
s'Histl Monsieur Plowitzl"
It was the old woman.
"Who is that?" I asked.
at is Marie Delbruyck."
do you know who I amt" I asked, 'ap.
preaching the door.
The old woman grinned and courtesied.
II have been expecting Monsieur Plowitz
she said.
She evidently took me for the man .she
had been told to expect. Tumultuous a.
my thoughts were,l could see no reason
for suspecting a 'plant' SO skilfully execu
ted, under circumstances which were pure
| ~ fortuitous. Heaven had put this means
Of fighting the Basilisk into my hauds, and
Iresolved to make the most of it.
"Where is the lady4'I asked.
. horrible grin. 49,
"The tall lady,
[ "Mademoiselle Be%aufoye"
eyes; Mademoiselle Beaufoy."
"Has not monsieur seen her7"
"NO; I must see her." I'll
"She said she must see monsieur, but she
has left a message for monsieur in case she
missed him.
"And the other ladyAA-is she safeq"
'1Quite safe. She is in the top room,
locked in" EH
"Good," said L. a
L y ""AAA Y NASAAoAJ AAAP4AoOucu
in the power Of such wretches. We had
moved out of the street, and were standing
just inside the little entrance court. AS WI
talked 1 could hear the rough murmurine
tones of a mans voice, and the shriller in:
tOnation OF a woman in conversation inside
the house.
'Now, Marie" I wenton, ''you must give
me the message quickly, for I must lind
mademoiselle at once." -
The old bag came closer to me, and laid a
finger on my arm, giving a sort Of a dig
now and then to impress the points Of her
message upon me.
A will be ready at ten o'clock. You
must meet mademOiselle here at ten. The
lady will be put into the boat. It is my
sons boat-Georges, there; You may hear
him talking-and he will take monsieur and
the lady down tho river, and put them on
board the ship"
'But," said !, almost gasping for breath,
chow if the lady will not comeWs J.
"Ah, monsieur" said Madame Delbruyck
with a diabolical leer' ssshe will not know
anything about ftp
"HowW - s~
'She might make a Disturbance; but we
u~se'-here she made 9 significant gesture
and grinned ghoulishly.
Sand thenfn r.
Sand then monsieur and my son Georges